Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka will take on fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final of the Australian Open 2012.
Azarenka needed three sets to defeat Kim Clijsters in a difficult semi-final. Clijsters, who had won the tournament last year, had entered the tournament without too many matches before the start but was going into the match at the back of wins over Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki.
The third-seeded player from Belarus, however, proved to be a tough cookie and went on to win the semi-final, 6-4 1-6 6-3.
Later, an emotional Azarenka, who has never before entered the final of a Grand Slam, said that he was a bundle of nerves serving for the match.
The Belarus lady needed 49 minutes to win the first set but Clijsters wrapped up the second in only 36 minutes to take the match into the decider. In the final set, lasting 47 minutes, Azarenka closed out the match 6-3 to enter the final.
In the final, she will take on the fourth-seeded Sharapova who defeated Petra Kvitova in another three-setter.
Sharapova won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to book her place in the Australian Open final, a tournament she had won in 2008. The Russian edged past the second-seeded Kvitova by winning 86 points in the match to her opponent’s 84.
She broke Kvitova early but was broken back in the fourth game. That was as far as Kvitova managed to go in the opening set, as Sharapova reeled off four games in a row to clinch the first set.
The Russian lost her momentum in the second set while Kvitova began to play better and levelled the score at one set apiece. It then looked like Kvitova would run away with the match when she broke Sharapova early in the third set, but the Russian came right back to level the set.
Later with Kvitova serving at 4-5, Sharapova broke the Czech player’s serve to clinch the finals berth.
The two ladies have played each other six times and won three matches each. They have never played in a Grand Slam match before this.
The Sharapova v Azarenka Australian Open women’s final will be played on Saturday, January 28.
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